Surviving & Living Rewritten
by duo7700
Summary: Surviving & Living follows Ben, Kevin and Gwen as they try to cope with being transferred to another universe. This new, less craptastic version of my first fic features a slightly altered plot. Now with more chapters and a cover image! Ben/Kevin
1. Chapter 1

Ben Tennyson floated on an endless sea of rolling darkness; desperately clutching four slender fingers as they frantically scratch at his palm. _What do I do? I can't defeat something that I can't see._ The Omnitrix beeped madly as the darkness began to rise to his waist. _It feels cold and warm at the same time, _he thought,_ as though I've fought this before. _The darkness rose to his breast while the Omnitrix continued to beep uncontrollably, piercing the otherwise silent ocean of shadow. _Azmuth was right, the Omnitrix would be safe from… _His mind went frantic beeping stopped as Ben's head is lost in the shadow, his left arm still free from _it_. The Omnitrix processed one last piece of data: _Primus Command: Activate Omnitrix defense protocol RUSEJA._ The Omnitrix glowed bright orange as its speck of light disappears from the dying universe.

* * *

><p>Ben awoke with one thought in his head; <em>damn it, my hand's asleep<em>. Then he remembered all that had happened. _Did I die?_ He was sure that he had felt the icy hands of death on his skin. He was sure that a warm feeling had come over him as his unconscious mind recognized that he had evaded death long enough and simply accepted it. He felt no fear of death, only curiosity.

Then he realized the reason his hand was asleep. "Kevin," he bellowed angrily as he finally opened his eyes. Kevin looked at him as though he hadn't heard him shout.

"About time you woke up. I've been yanking on your arm for a few minutes," Kevin said sleepily.

"Ben, I was beginning to think you wouldn't wake up," Gwen said worriedly as she looked upward from where she was gripping Kevin's ankle. She looked even more tired than Kevin.

Ben checked himself and the others over for any apparent injuries, then asked, "How long was I out?

"No clue," said Kevin as he scratched his nose, "It's kind of hard to tell; In case you haven't noticed, we ain't exactly in Kansas anymore."

Ben finally took in his surroundings, which took little time. It seemed to be a tunnel of some kind, one that was, "Orange… really orange," Ben stated.

"How very perceptive of you," Gwen said sarcastically. The Omnitrix beeped moments before a hologram of Azmuth appeared above it.

"Ben Tennyson, if you are seeing this then one of my experiments has gone terribly wrong and our entire universe has been lost. Long ago, I told you that I had designed the Omnitrix as a sort of Noah's Ark. The Omnitrix is useless if the species have nowhere to go. It was an obvious flaw with an obvious solution, the RUSEJA Protocol.

"The moment the protocol was activated, the entire DNA library of Primus was downloaded into you and the Omnitrix teleported itself to one of dozens of alternate universes. Once you arrive, one of my contacts will contact you. Now more than ever, it is imperative that the Omnitrix be protected, Ben. You three and the Omnitrix are the legacy of our universe. Farewell, Ben Tennyson. Stay safe." The hologram shut off, only to turn back on. "One last thing, I forgive you for tampering with the Omnitrix, on multiple occasions. To ensure that you don't do it again, and that it remains safe, you will now have complete access to all functions." Once again, it turned off then on again, "Oh, and farewell to Kevin and Gwen as well, as they are undoubtedly with you."

The trio stared at one another, absorbing the information, until Ben broke the silence, "I always knew he'd forgive me." Gwen contented herself by glowering at Ben and Kevin as the boys burst into laughter. Ben fell asleep again soon after.

Sometime later, Kevin groaned, "How long is this going to take? I don't exactly sleep well without back support." Gwen raised her eyebrow.

"Sleeping is the least of our problems, Kevin. We're the last living beings from our universe."

"Yeah, but a man's got to sleep, you know? Ben agrees with me." The two looked at Ben with concern.

Gwen said, "I'm starting to get-"

"Concerned? Yeah, me too."

"He's been asleep since that message from Azmuth, and that was," Gwen paused to some calculations, "About six days ago. We only have enough food and water another day or two." Ben took that moment to mumble something about giant marshmallow squids trying to steal his iPod. Kevin looked at Ben.

"What the fuck goes on in that head of yours, Benji?"

* * *

><p>Ben continued to dream. Like most dreams, little sense could be made of them by the conscious mind. Large squids made out of marshmallow and Kevin square-dancing with his car were perhaps the ones that made the most sense. Then, Ben felt a cool breeze on his face as he stood in line to become the first person to buy a Mr. Smoothie smoothie in space. He got the sense that the cold air was very important, even more important than smoothies. He approached an airlock and it opened with a torrent of freezing air and blinding light, but he moved forward.<p>

He was in a dream that was not a dream. A singular spotlight shone down on him from above, letting off just enough light for him to know that he was somewhere impossibly huge, surrounded by figures. More importantly, he was quite naked. A familiar voice sounded from all around him, "RUSEJA Protocol initiation complete. Granting User root access. Rebooting." The spotlight went out and a low hum replaced the voice. Then the room began to light up.

Ben was standing in the middle of an infinite sphere, surrounded by creatures of every species, from a pug to a tetramand. Every alien he had ever been, seen, heard of, and those that he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Ben opened his eyes, then immediately regretted doing so; the tunnel of light was rather bright. Ben groaned, "Ow, light bright."

"About damn time, Tennyson," Kevin shouted, "I thought you were in a coma or something."

Ben yawned and flipped Kevin the bird, "How long was I out?"

"Almost eight days," Gwen tossed him a granola bar, which Ben was hesitant about eating, "That's all we have left, Ben." He grudgingly opened it and began to nibble on it, pulling faces between bites. Kevin and Gwen soon decided to catch up on some much needed sleep and Ben strengthened his grip on Kevin. Shortly after Kevin fell asleep, a sudden crack of thunder sounded nearby. Gwen woke with a start, her elbow connecting with Kevin's face.

"What the hell Gw- wait, where's Ben?"

Before Gwen could even begin to wonder, a second boom engulfed them, and they too disappeared.

* * *

><p>A deafening klaxon echoed through the halls of the tower, soon followed by hurried steps rushing down the halls. The green boy was less responsive, "Huh? What? Who is it?"<p>

An authoritative voice boomed from a nearby speaker, "Titan's, emergency!" Seconds later, a different voice yelled, "He means you, BB!" The boy let out a tiny squeak and flew out the door in a blur of green and magenta, putting on his uniform as he barreled through the hallways.

The Teen Titans had assembled and were waiting for Robin to explain the situation. As soon as Beast Boy slid into the room, Robin started the briefing, "Doctor Light is rampaging through Downtown, He's a lightweight, but the JLA wants us to-" The computer behind Robin began beeping and he turned to look at the new information appearing on the screen.

"What is it, friend Robin?"

"That appears to be a rift in space-time above the city. It seems like Doctor Light has something more in mind than causing mayhem. Titans, go!"

Far away from Jump City, Kevin groaned, "My back…"

"Your pain now will pale in comparison to what I'll do to you if you don't get off of me, Kevin." Kevin lifted himself off of Gwen. Both of them were covered in small scrapes and soon to be bruises. Kevin had a sizable but shallow cut running the length of his spine, but both were still able to walk away from their landing zone.

Kevin winced as he took his first few steps away, "I have a feeling that you're supposed to be in a ship or something when you do that. Gwen ignored the comment.

"We need to find you a doctor."

Kevin shot her a look, "More importantly, we need to find Ben."

"Ben can take care of himself. If anything's wrong, we'll probably see Way Big or something in the distance." They found a path not too far away and followed it north until they saw a sign.

The Hamlet of Olympus

Population 73

"Great, maybe I can get a face full of shot from a blunderbuss before Daisy Moses fixes me up," Kevin whined.

Gwen conjured a gurney and levitated Kevin onto it, "Shut up and don't move."


	2. Chapter 2

Kevin's eyes shot open as soon as he realized he was strapped down to a rather comfortable bed. Kevin knew that being strapped down, regardless of the comfort level, was generally a bad thing. "What is this enchanting device, dear?" The voice was undoubtedly that of an old woman, albeit one with a husky, raspy voice.

"It's an ID mask. You can program it to modify the wearer's appearance with that of nearly anyone or anything," replied Gwen conversationally. "It helped him fit in."

The old woman cackled harshly, "I don't think he'll need it anymore." Kevin turned his head and saw Gwen nodding in agreement as the woman walked away.

"Uh… Hey, why am I tied down?"

Gwen started and turned to face him, "Oh! Sorry Kevin, you got a little… worked up when she introduced herself." The woman came back in with a tray of coffee and muffins. She sat it down on the bedside table and took out a wooden pipe and tobacco from her apron.

"Doctor Daisy May Moses," she said as she lit her pipe, "It's a pleasure to meet you while you aren't trying to take my head off."

Kevin tried to find the words to respond to that, but managed only to say, "Ah."

* * *

><p>Hours later, after Kevin was released from his restraints and they were properly fed, they sat down with a map of the area. The hamlet was nestled between three large mountains and there were only two roads out. Daisy sat down at the table and pointed at the eastern road, "That one there is closed. Some nasty business with… Lobo, I think it was." She sighed, "Collapsed the entire tunnel, he did. Poor Mr. Thompson won't be able to head into Jump City on Saturday to sell his fruit."<p>

Kevin inhaled some of his coffee, "One guy took out a tunnel of solid stone?"

"Kevin, this place isn't like home. Tons of people here have some sort of power. Daisy May," Gwen gestured toward her and she smiled, "Has the power to diagnose and remedy nearly any malady. She used her power to stabilize your genetic code and turn you back into, well, you."

"Oh, thanks."

"It was rather simple. It was just a slight skin condition," said Daisy May through a cloud of acrid smoke.

Kevin looked at her incredulously, "_Slight?_"

Gwen looked at him, "If you saw how easily she fixed you up, you'd agree it wasn't as bad as it seemed."

Daisy May nodded, "Yup. All you needed was a bath of club soda and Epsom salt." She smiled as she put a cap on her pipe and stowed it back in her apron pocket, "Club soda cures most anything, strangely enough." With that, she bid the pair good night.

Kevin decided to take a break from staring at a map and turned on the surprisingly large television Daisy May had, "Whoa, check it out Gwen," he said in a loud whisper, "She's got the complete sports package!" Gwen groaned.

"Find the news, maybe there's some news about a traveler from another universe." Kevin flipped through the channels before he found a local news channel.

The image was an aerial view of a city block on fire, with the caption "Doctor Light Attacks S.T.A.R. Labs". Kevin turned to get Gwen's attention, but she was already heading to the couch so she could better hear. "The standoff is nearing its twenty-eighth hour as the Titans attempt to breach Doctor Light's defenses. A representative of S.T.A.R. Labs believes Light may have activated the internal security grid and locked himself in a high-security lab near the top. JCFD had this to say:" The screen cut to Chief Alexander Gregory.

"The fire is mostly contained," he said, "But I can't send anyone in until the Titans have that lunatic under control." The screen cut back to the bird's-eye view of the city.

"Little is known of Light's intentions, though some experts say that the flash of light that appeared above the city may have acted as a trigger of sorts. S.T.A.R. says none of their projects would cause the phenomenon that was seen by those looking at the sky at three eighteen this morning. With the Justice League unavailable for comment, some have speculated that the orange light belonged to an Orange Lantern, however no other evidence exists. Doctor Gordon Kleinman, professor of Quantum Mechanics at Metropolis University, believes Jump City experienced some sort of subspace anomaly." The image switched to that off a middle-aged man.

"We've seen this before in space," he said, "The Watchtower often has visitors from far-flung star systems. They generally exit far away from Earth, however, due to the dangers of exiting subspace, namely the massive release of energy. This, however, could be a new method of entering and exiting subspace, one that could safely be used to travel vast distances…"

Gwen sighed, "I doubt Ben's involved in that. He would've turned into Humungousaur and saved himself." Kevin simply snored in response, "Obviously you agree with me." Gwen threw a crocheted blanket over him and turned off the TV before going to the guest bedroom.

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, as Daisy made breakfast, Gwen told Kevin of the plan she had come up with, "I gave it a lot of thought last night, and I think the best plan is to go over the mountain." Kevin laughed.<p>

"That'd take forever Gwen. We don't even have the supplies to climb that thing, and I doubt anyone around here has it."

Gwen grinned, "I never said we'd be climbing the mountain, Kevin. I'll conjure some stairs." With a wave of her hand, Gwen conjured miniature steps over the stack of pancakes on her plate.

"Huh. That's not a half bad idea. You sure you're up for that much work, though? Making steps up and down?"

"The steps up, sure. But going down we'll need something faster." Kevin's eyes lit up.

"You're going to make a slide, aren't you?" Kevin's entire face lit up with childlike glee as Gwen nodded.

"Geez Kevin, you're like a kid."

Soon, the two bid farewell to Daisy May and walked towards the mountains. Once they stopped for a break, Gwen pulled up one of her pant legs and removed a small zippered bag from her sock. Kevin simply gave her an odd look.

"You and Ben have a habit of disappearing. Ben gets kidnapped by Vilgax and you run off without your badge, so I thought it'd be nice to have a little tracking kit," Gwen explained, obviously pleased with her brilliance. "I have samples for both of you in here." She pulled out a test tube with several strands of brown hair in it, "I grabbed some when you guys got wasted on Arbor Day."

"That's a little creepy, Gwen." She ignored the comment and extracted a single strand from the tube. The hair was enveloped in an orb of pink energy and Gwen went silent as a look of concentration fell upon her face.

She opened her eyes, "He's a bit further west," she said, "Something's blocking the signal, though. It's like the difference between coarse and fine GPS information on your phone." She sighed, "Not much we can do about it, though." Gwen levitated herself as the hair floated above her hands and together they advanced toward the mountain. They stopped at eleven that night and took refuge in a cabin that likely was a vacation home. At sunrise, they set out again and reached the base of the mountain at noon. Wordlessly, Gwen dropped the hair back into the vial and started conjuring the steps. Kevin started up them and Gwen followed, disappearing the stairs behind her as she made more ahead of Kevin. As the moon shone down from directly above, they reached the summit.

"Holy shit, it's cold," Kevin managed to say before Gwen shoved him into the slide she conjured.

"I know." She rocketed down the slide after him. Before long, they landed on warm, grassy ground, and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben found himself standing in a familiar room: the same room he had seen the Omnitrix's aliens in. The aliens were different, though. Every single one was talking, some in English, others in their native tongues. Their voices echoed throughout the seemingly infinite room. Ben stared as Chromastone and Diamond head laughed heartily at joke told by Heatblast, then at Humungousaur and Way Big as they challenged one another to an arm wrestling contest, and then watched Echo Echo start his own barbershop quartet. His head started pounding as though each voice hit him like a sledgehammer. He collapsed to the ground and curled up, his hands clapped firmly over his ears. Then a whisper drowned out the din.

"_Azerath Metrion Zinthos_…" These were not words that he had ever heard before, but they had the power to quiet the countless voices.

Ben called out, "Who's there?" In response, the babbling of billions swelled to a new level, making it seem as though each one were shouting. Again, a chant, louder this time, dampened the noise.

"_Azerath Metrion Zinthos_."

Ben stood back up as the aliens returned to their impossibly loud conversations and shouted above it, "Show yourself!" The room dissolved before his eyes as another chant was shouted.

"_Azerath Metrion Zinthos_!" A pale woman in navy blue robes appeared before him, her face blank and passive.

Ben yelled at her, "Who are you? What have you done to me?" The woman cocked her head.

"My name is Raven, and I have helped save you." Ben blushed, but before he could apologize, Raven continued, "And to answer what is likely to be your next question, we are in your mind."

"I figured that out already," Ben said, "What I was going to ask was, 'Why are _you_ in my head?'"

Raven looked at him a moment before answering, "You're in a coma. You were attacked and held hostage for over a day and a half." She looked as though she were trying how best to phrase the rest of her response, "During that time, your captor attempted, through various means, to remove the device on your wrist." She walked closer to Ben, "Before we continue, my colleagues and I would like some information."

"What kind of information," Ben asked suspiciously.

Raven raised an eyebrow at the suspicion in his voice, but replied in her usual monotone, "Where are you from?" As Ben tried to find the words to explain everything, asphalt appeared below his feet and spread out, weaving into a lattice of streets far down below as buildings sprouted between them. As the city finished growing, Raven's eyes darted around until they rested upon a sign:

Bellwood

2 Miles

"Bellwood?" she asked, "There is no such place."

"Maybe not here, but-" Ben cut himself off as the memory of his last night in Bellwood began to play.

It was a Saturday night in Bellwood. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin were sitting at picnic tables looking up at the stars as they enjoyed their smoothies. Ben rested his head on Kevin's shoulder as a shooting star streaked across the sky. Then, the sky turned an inky black, cold without the light from the stars. Ben's Omnitrix dimmed as it said, "Connection to main Primus relay lost; establishing subspace connection." Then, everyone's Plumber's badge beeped and lit up, displaying messages in quick succession.

Contact with Pyros Station lost.

Contact with Petropia Station lost

Contact with Arburia Station lost.

Contact with Kylmyys Station lost.

Khoros, Piscciss, Mor' Otesi, Appoplexia, Osmos, and countless others appeared as the trio stared at their badges. Then, the face of the Omnitrix turned black. The darkness descended upon the Earth amid panicked screams that were quickly silenced. In a single night, the universe would die. The three stood defiantly as the dark tide swelled high above them. It crashed down and hit Gwen, who instinctively grabbed Kevin's ankle as she fell. Then Kevin took Ben's hand with a kiss, "See you on the other side, Benji." He was soon enveloped. Ben held on tight as the ocean of shadow began to consume him. Then the face of the Omnitrix turned purple.

"Codon Stream integrity failing; retrieving Primus' records."

Ben useless shouted, "Access master control," at it.

"User does not have sufficient privileges to access this command."

"Decouple Omnitrix Command Code: 000 - Release Coupling – 0."

"User does not have sufficient privileges to access this command."

"Omnitrix Reset Code 10."

"User does not have sufficient privileges to access this command."

Ben shouted command after command at the Omnitrix until he couldn't think of anything else. The Omnitrix began beeping frenetically until the world went black. Ben stared horrified as he watched his memory. "Oh my god, we're the only ones left," he said as he felt the full impact of the event. The scene glowed orange as he saw himself wake up in the orange tunnel and Azmuth's message. Then, his strange dream replayed and the scene where he was granted master control replayed. A crack of thunder and Ben saw something he didn't remember. He was falling through the night sky as the thunder echoed throughout the city below. He was plummeting toward a small skyscraper. He closed his eyes and said his goodbyes as the wind rushed past him, scattering his words across the sky. Then, the sight went dark once more.

Raven turned to Ben, "That would explain some of your injuries. I'm surprised," she said, looking quite unsurprised, "That you survived an impact with reinforced concrete at terminal velocity."

"Me too," Ben said.

Raven paid no attention to his comment, "You will wake up in a small infirmary located in Titan's Tower. I must ask you to not move, as you still have several broken bones and other injuries which could be exacerbated. If you can't resist the temptation to move, we can administer a paralytic."

"I won't move." She nodded and closed her eyes, then disappeared. Ben suddenly became aware of a rhythmic beeping to the left of him, and then he noticed soft light filtering through his eyelids. He opened them and saw a green skinned teenager grinning at him.

"Back off him, BB," a voice said as the green boy was pulled away by a metal hand. Ben's gaze rested on Cyborg, "Hey, name's Cyborg."

"Thank you for remembering not to move." Ben turned his head slightly and saw Raven floating a few feet from the floor, but before he could say anything to her, she said, "Please do not speak with me, I must concentrate while I heal you." Her breathing slowed and she began to chant softly.

Beast Boy came back into view, followed by a black-haired teen in a domino mask and cheery looking orange girl carrying a large worm. "I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans," the boy in the mask said, "This is Beast Boy and Starfire, and you've met Cyborg and Raven." Robin pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down so he was more or less face to face with Ben, "Beast Boy has already filled me in on what Raven gleaned from her foray into your mind, but I'd like to learn a bit more, and answer some of your questions if you have them."

Ben honestly would've preferred a hot meal, a shower, and a good night's sleep, but he was in no shape to argue, let alone with his host, "I'll answer what I can."

Robin nodded, "What's your name?"

"Ben Tennyson," he said, noting that they obviously hadn't looked in his wallet. The questions became steadily more difficult to answer, Ben knowing nothing of how exactly he had gotten where he was, especially the technical aspects.

Finally, after several hours, Robin asked, "What is that device on your wrist?"

Ben thought about lying, seeing as the Omnitrix was easily the most important artifact from his now defunct universe, but chose instead to tell the truth, "It's an ark." Robin's eyebrow rose, "See, this guy, Azmuth, designed a system to preserve DNA samples from species around the universe so that, if they ever went extinct or something, they could be brought back." Starfire walked in looking very intrigued.

"This device contains genetic samples from all species across the universe?" She bent down and looked at it closely.

"It doesn't look like it could store that much information," Cyborg said as he too examined it, "Hell, the Watchtower needs tons of hard drives just keep that thing in the sky. Literally, that thing has eleven tons of hard drives!" Cyborg poked the face of the Omnitrix.

"You do not have sufficient privileges to access this command." Cyborg jumped back, knocking Starfire over in the process.

"Does that thing have an AI?"

Ben replied wearily, "Doesn't everyone have a self-aware watch?" Beast Boy burst out laughing. At Beast Boy's outburst, Raven's eyes opened.

The room seemed to dim as she uttered a single syllable, "Out." Everyone quickly left, and Ben soon took the chance to get some much needed rest.

The sound of rain pounding against the window woke him up early in the morning. A vaguely familiar smell wafted in from the hall. Ben saw a handwritten note on his bedside that read:

"Ben,

Raven says you can move around. Bathroom is across the hall. Help yourself to the fridge.

Robin".

Ben sat up and grunted in pain. He poured some water from a pitcher and grabbed a couple of pills from the bottle of ibuprofen near it. He slowly stood up and found that, while he was sore just about everywhere, he was in relatively good condition. He walked stiffly across the hall and relived himself before following the smell of food.

As he entered the kitchen, Starfire turned around and exclaimed, "Good morning, new friend! I have learned how to make mother's Pikrex Surprise! You must try some, it is most delicious!" The other Titans turned from the TV to look on as she served Ben a plate of what appeared to be orange calamari in an acid green gelatin. Beast Boy managed to look slightly greener at the sight of it. Ben sniffed it then ate spoonful. To everyone's amazement, Ben smiled.

"It's easily the best I've tasted, but I've only had it in space station cafeterias," he said before taking another bite. Starfire beamed at him.

"Many are unable to taste the Vuir'nax Berries which counteract the bitterness of Glorkky Bork," she looked at Ben's now empty plate, "Would you like more?"

Ben shook his head, "No, I couldn't possibly have another bite. Thanks, though." She smiled and served herself a plate before walking off. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy goggled at him.

"Dude, you can stomach Star's cooking," Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg moved a little closer, "Not just stomach, but enjoy it?"

"Yeah," Ben said nonchalantly, "It's just alien food. I've been to tons of other planets and if you're there for a long time… Well, you got to eat, you know?" They continued to look at him as though he possessed some great secret, "Look, most humans just can't handle alien food. A lot of it is just too different from anything on Earth. I have an easier time because I'm 25% Anodite."

In the blink of an eye, Starfire appeared next to Ben, her eyes twinkling, and exclaimed rather loudly, "I knew I felt a connection! We are relatives, albeit distant ones." Soon, Ben went to watch some cheesy action flick with the others, contemplating whether not he should ask them for help finding Kevin and Gwen.


	4. Chapter 4

Gwen and Kevin were awoken in the early morning by a steady rain. Grumbling, Gwen put up a shield of mana to act as an umbrella. They started walking toward Jump City, their footsteps beginning to squelch in the mud as the rain began to fall harder. They walked as quickly as they could and reached the outskirts of the city as the sun began to shine feebly through the storm clouds. The unmistakable stench of fire drifted toward them.

Kevin was the first to spot the blaze and he pointed it out, "There. It looks like the downtown area, probably an apartment fire." The both thought of Ben, and the likelihood that he was there, either saving others or needing to be saved. They exchanged looks of worry and ran full tilt toward the city.

They ran down the unfamiliar streets, Kevin leading the way. As they came upon the scene, they saw fire had been extinguished. They walked through the triage area, glancing at faces for Ben until they stood in front of the burned out husk of a building. The fire chief was conversing with a masked teen, as his comrades, obvious due to their own strange appearances, conversed among themselves. "So," the chief said, "How's that boy you saved yesterday?"

Robin moved slightly closer to him, not wanting to be overheard, "He's fine physically, but Light was brutal." Robin face went slightly green. He sighed, "Raven thinks it's best if he undergoes more professional treatment. He's already been through a lot. This could cause him to have a complete break from reality or something."

The chief looked at him curiously, "'He's already been through a lot'? What's that mean?"

Robin guided him further from the crowd while Kevin and Gwen moved closer, "Raven went into his mind. She saw his memories, memories of his entire, er, home being destroyed in a single night. Only two others survived, as far as we kn-"

Kevin immediately ran up to him, running his hand along the side of the fire engine and turning a bright metallic red, "Where is Ben?" Gwen wrapped tendrils of mana around Kevin to prevent him from going any closer.

"Calm down, Kevin, you're going to scare him off. He didn't hurt Ben, he saved him," Gwen said as she started to get pulled forward as Kevin still struggled to get closer. Robin looked taken aback at the sudden outburst from someone who knew the name of their guest from an alternate universe. Before Robin could regain his composure and answer, Kevin broke free and his metallic fist connected with the Boy Wonder's jaw.

"Where is he," Kevin asked, less harshly than the first time. Gwen hoisted Kevin into the air and held out a hand to Robin.

"I am so sorry about him. Are you alright Robin?" He grunted in affirmation.

"Who are you," he asked angrily as he wiped blood from his mouth. He scowled at Kevin, who scowled back.

"I am Gwendolyn Tennyson and he," she pointed upward where Kevin was still trying to free himself, "Is Kevin Levin. We're looking for my cousin, Benjamin Tennyson." Robin looked at them skeptically, "He would've had a device on his wrist bearing this symbol," Gwen pulled out her Plumber's badge.

Robin scrutinized the symbol and nodded.

"I'll take you to him." He walked over to the others and came back with a set of keys, "Get in." He gestured toward the car, "And be careful, Cyborg just had it detailed." Gwen slowly lowered Kevin and freed him. While he looked ready to have another outburst, he quietly got into the backseat behind Gwen and stayed silent until they reached their destination. They stepped out of the car and Robin said, "Come, this way." He led them to a high-ceilinged common area with a kitchen. Kevin's face softened as Gwen smiled slightly. That snoring was unmistakably Ben's. Kevin walked over to Ben and kneeled beside the couch and shook his head before punching him hard in the shoulder.

"Ow," Ben yelled, "What'd you do that fo-"

Before he could finish, Kevin's lips crashed into his. Robin turned to stare interestedly at the countertops while Gwen simply gaped. Kevin pulled away, "Don't ever fucking scare me like that again, Tennyson." The other Titans walked in and Ben started kissing Kevin. Robin filled them in, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. Starfire baked a quick bread and offered it to Gwen.

"Relation of my new friend, I offer you a serving of Poxis Ludu Ludu. It is the traditional Tamaraneran cure for shocking news." Gwen nodded numbly and took a bite, the taste and texture of which brought her back to her senses.

"Holy crap," Gwen said breathlessly, "I knew Ben was gay, but _Kevin_?"

* * *

><p>Gwen woke with a start and looked at the clock with a sigh, "Awesome. I love being awake at one in the morning." Starfire opened her door.<p>

"Friend Gwendolyn," Gwen sat up a little in bed, "Robin would like to speak with you. I shall wait for you."

Kevin was rummaging around in the refrigerator, impressed by their impressive array of food, both domestic and extraterrestrial. He chose to make a simple cheese omelet and, as he sat down to eat it, Raven glided in. He jumped as she said, "Come with me and leave the sandwich." She took him to the briefing room and indicated a seat. Gwen soon arrived wearing a plush robe emblazoned with the Teen Titans' logo.

Gwen scanned the room before sitting next to Kevin, "Where's Ben?"

Robin walked out of a shadowy corner, "We don't think he should hear this from us." Robin looked as though he was having second thoughts about what he was going to do, "We're going to tell you what went down when he arrived." Robin pulled a remote from his pocket and pressed a button, causing the large screen behind him to power on. He pressed another to dim the lights and a third turned on a holographic projector that displayed a scale model of the city.

"Doctor Light," an image of a deranged looking man appeared on smaller screen to the left of the large one. "He's been considered harmless for years. Before that, however, he was a heavy hitter. The Justice League eventually hunted him down after he raped the wife of one of their members. Zatanna attempted to alter his mind so that he would no longer pose a threat. She also, accidentally, as I understand it, partially lobotomized him. He went from an evil super genius to an average evil prick. In other words, he became our problem.

"Several months ago, he once again became a threat. He somehow seems to have regained his intellect and, we think, the memories that Zatanna took away from him. Since then, the League has yet to take action, but we've been able to keep him from doing any major damage, but he's still managed to commit a multitude of crimes." Another monitor below the one showing Doctor Light's face lit up with copies of police files documenting the crimes he had been linked to in the past months.

"He was the reason we went to S.T.A.R. Labs. Normally, an anomalous signature would be an Air Force or Justice League problem. We focused on Light." The hologram zoomed in at the sky above S.T.A.R., where a flash of light silhouetted Ben, "This is from one of my monitoring stations in the city. The orange flash is, I believe, Ben punching a hole in the membrane of our universe. He fell nearly a mile before landing inside a high security lab in the center of the building without crashing through concrete and steel." Robin looked as though he expected them to tell them how he did it, but Gwen and Kevin were far more interested in hearing more of what he had to say.

"It was about this time that Light breached the building's security and entered. Witnesses inside say he spoke to himself frantically, though only two women managed to catch snippets of what he said." Cyborg tapped a button on the table and an audio recording began to play, "H-he was completely mad, muttering something about 'the light of creation'." The recording stopped and another one began, "Over and over he said it, 'the green light is the key'.

"What happened after the witnesses saw him, we're not 100% sure. But, based upon what little security footage we could salvage from the lab's hard drives and the physical examination Ben underwent when we first brought him here, we can draw reasonable conclusions. The light source he sought was, I think, radiating from the device on Ben's wrist. Light tried to pry it off, as evidenced by," the main monitor showed a close-up of Ben's left wrist, where deep gouges had been made in the flesh around the Omnitrix, "We were able to identify a total of thirty-seven different tool marks, most of them improvised."

Several grainy stills from the security camera popped up on the screen and began cycling through repeatedly, "After that, we know that Ben was awake. Light, it appears, attempts to force Ben to remove the device. Ben," Robin paused on the final image, where Ben's head is blurred from him shaking it, "Refused to tell him."

Gwen had covered her mouth, the tracks of her tears glistening in the green glow of the hologram in front of her. Kevin looked murderous. Robin gave them a minute to absorb everything he'd told them so far. Finally, he knew he couldn't avoid the real reason he'd called them there, "Before we could get to Ben, Doctor Light employed some, shall we say, 'advanced interrogation techniques'." Another still that had been heavily reconstructed appeared on the main monitor, then began zooming in on a lab table and began to slowly enhance it. A number of crude, cruel instruments were visible. A video clip started to play on one of the smaller screens, showing Light carefully flaying skin off of Ben with what appeared to be a jagged pieced of sheet metal. Gwen covered her face and began to cry openly as Kevin ripped through the halls, out the doors and onto the island's rocky shore, where he began pummeling the stones until they crumbled into dust and gravel.


End file.
